"Don't say things you wouldn't say under your mother." - Clare

update!: L-O-V-ing Gaston :)

Today was another beautiful, blue sky day in Gaston. We woke up bright and early at 6:00 am to eat breakfast and make our brown bag lunches, courtesy of the morning crew. Everyone dressed up really nicely for our first working day impressions and we made Maryland look classy. Around 7:00 am we headed out pumped up and ready to go.

On our way up the gravel road, we caught a strong whiff of the paper mill in the town and it was not pleasant. (The smell is from sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, and chlorine. - wikipedia) random fact: did you know that paper production is the 3rd leading contributor to air pollution?

Back on track... getting into school was great. We all found tons of grading, tracking, and observing to do. Some of us graded scantron sheets and others did more complex grading like poetry assignments. It was really exciting to grade a test of a student that did well. For me, I felt like I was holding a lottery ticket and as the numbers were being counted off, I was hoping for a big win. Tracking is one of the most useful things we did today because it really helped teachers to see what questions/subjects were giving the most trouble to students. The teachers were supremely thankful and I hope that we made their INSANE workload lighter (some teachers arrive at 5 am and leave around 11 pm so obviously by now you have realized that teachers do NOT get paid enough).

A lot of us got to sit in classes and I observed an AP environmental science class that consisted mostly of freshmen. I thought that was pretty crazy because freshmen in AP classes is rare back home. What I noticed the most was the spirit of the students and the teachers. However, despite the positive atmosphere of the school, there is still a lot of progress to be made. The AP enviro kids didn't seem to understand important concepts and it made me want to do a review session with the class because they have a test next week.

Moving on in the day... we got to meet with a math teacher from the public school and the principal of the KIPP high school. Both were really great to talk to and had a lot of wisdom to share about grasping the reality of things. Some of the topics we discussed were possible solutions to the achievement gap and the differences between charter and public schools. We spoke to them for over 2 hours and would have stayed longer if all of our stomachs weren't grumbling!

Heading home, Sophie, Clare, Christina and I made a pasta dinner (Sophie's recipe) and it was delicious. At dinner we had a very enthralling conversation about chocolate vs. vanilla (if you were wondering, chocolate won by a LANDSLIDE!). And this led into all other conversations that went deep into the night. For our intense reflection, we picked questions out of an envelope and then we talked about what we thought were the problems and positives of what we had seen that day. We all noted that the students had a level pride in their studies and that the teachers collaborated more than at most schools. We are learning so much!

Being in the school was weird on orientation day for me, but all day today I felt the desire to be a teacher grow. I think everyone is having a great experience and we are all bonding so well.

Two last things I have to note before more grading and bed...

1. Northampton County... does not... have a recycling program... I died inside.
2. Tomorrow is college day so everyone is wearing their AB shirts! :)

- Lien